Internet penetration in Kenya

The internet has inevitably come to be a huge part of our lives. You are connected to an audience in the click of a mouse. The internet penetration in Kenya is the epitome of the ability of the online world to be relatable to just about anyone. So what is the internet penetration in Kenya? The current internet penetration statistics shows that for every three Kenyans, two have access to the internet. That means that two thirds of the Kenyan population is able to access the World Wide Web.

Internet penetration in Kenya 2018

The internet penetration in Kenya 2018 is at its highest ever with the overall penetration currently at a hundred and twelve percent. According to the latest statistics by the Communications Authority of Kenya CA, the broadband interment take up as of September of 2017 had risen by 14.3% in comparison to the previous year.

The report also went ahead to reveal that the number of internet users went from 45.4 million users to 51.1 million users. This large number is widely contributed by the large penetration of mobile internet penetration in Kenya. The biggest contributor to data or internet being mobile data. It is responsible for 99% of the internet connectivity among most Kenyans.

Fiber optic internet penetration has also rose and continues to sky rocket as the home fiber continues to gain popularity. Even being at a measly 1% of connectivity, the fibre optic Kenya internet penetration has rose by 65.5%. This is also data recorded as of September 2017.

Mobile internet penetration in Kenya

Kenyans seem to have taken competing over whose video or snapshot goes viral next. The Kenyans on Twitter for instance have a reputation. This leaves the Kenyan online community a vibrant one ranging from hilarious people to questionable amateur political analysts and the list continues. The internet penetration rate in Kenya continues to rise. This is because trending topics on Kenyan online platforms make it to the local news and vice versa and more people are aware. This makes the overall interest of Kenyans towards the internet grow each day a little bit more.

Internet penetration is great news for Kenyans as the number of opportunities it brings is boundless. People also get to learn new skills that open up to the online world and this will ripple into the onset of new businesses and ideas. According to an article written by Nation , Mr. Sam Chappatte of Jumia Kenya says that he does not foresee a significant decrease in the cost of smart-phones. However he says the brands will increase the phones features and improve weak features due to the increase in competition and the growth in the market.

The article also revealed that about 31.99 million Kenyans are internet users. It is no longer a surprise to find your grandmother on Facebook in Kenya. The Kenyan spirit is visible online as people put their voices out there. It would be fair to say that with the uptake of fiber optics and the increase in mobile subscribers, this trend is only bound to keep going up.

Yet another factor that has led to the increase in the uptake of internet in Kenya is the stiff competition among the more affordable Chinese brands. These are Infinix, Tecno and InnJoo entering into the market. These brands produce high spec android phones and their price points are affordable to the average Kenyan.

Mr Chappatte also said that there is still a big opportunity in increasing the smartphone market in rural Kenya. The statistics reveal that in the same year, Jumia recorded 65% of their sales within Nairobi. That leaves the rest of the market quite open.

The competition among brands to enter the lucrative Kenyan Telecommunication scene is another leading factor that has vastly affected the Kenya mobile internet penetration. The cost of mobile internet continues to go down as more brands provide cheaper data to gain a bigger Market.

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Mr Chappatte also says that “… e-commerce companies that continue to develop proprietary technology which meets the specific needs of Kenyan customers will be best placed to win,” the Kenyan online platform is open to many new ideas as well as opportunities. "

Some of the other key developments by Kenya that has led to the growth of Kenya’s internet penetration very fast include the country launching its first micro satellites, there is also KS 300 million set aside by the government for free Wi-Fi projects. The Kenyan government is also set to roll-out 17 billion Kenyan shillings for school laptop projects and Kenya Power and lightning company has been doing trials of fiber access on its electricity network.

Those are just a few of the projects that show how well this new boom in the world of online businesses and internet access has been taken up by Kenyan corporations and government. Computer studies is part of the Kenyan curriculum and the mainstreaming of the world of computer technology continues to go up significantly each year.

It is a little difficult not to relate the growth of popularity of smart-phones in Kenya with the increased internet penetration. Kenyans are very business oriented people with many people copying each other’s businesses. This works to the advantage of some markets as you find many people selling the same merchandise from the same suppliers even on the same streets. The number of phone suppliers has increased and the effects are slowly rolling outwards from the urban centers. That means that even when rural Kenya is currently lagging behind in smartphone and internet penetration, this will not last for very long.

Kenya internet penetration

You might be wondering what the Kenyan population is doing with this high internet connectivity and how it has affected the people in Kenya. The internet availability has revealed that there are many more startups in Kenya than was earlier perceived. Mas much as people are using social media in Kenya for comic relief, you also find that the number of cottage industries selling a wide variety of made in Kenya products are now being seen.

Social media marketing has helped many young entrepreneurs to sell their merchandise online and to a much bigger market.

Most of the other older companies have also been able to reach a bigger market using these sane social media marketing methods. Mobile banking has also gone significantly higher. This is also as challenged by the availability of Mpesa that was actually introduced by Safaricom one of the major network service providers in Kenya. Kenyans have discovered the ease of bringing the products to people at 5he comfort of their homes and this has trickled down slowly.

Conclusion

Kenya has its fair share of social, economic as well as political issues. This however does not mean that Kenya is on the backlog in its growth. A vibrant nation with a big number of educated people, Kenya is using the internet [penetration to slowly but surely put its mark on E-commerce and no one seems to be slowing down anytime soon. With 80% of the population being in a position to access a good internet connectivity, more and more individuals and businesses are finding new ways to share their products and services. The internet [penetration is only on its way up even from here.